America 1982-Chapter 404 - 50: Not a One-Man Holiday_3
"Can’t you reflect a bit? After all, I was forced to accept your arrangements just like Michelle..." At the stairway on the second floor, Bessie turned back and glared at Tommy, "You’re rotten to the core, Tommy!"
Tommy raised his beer in a toast to her and said with a smile, "Thanks for the compliment."
"So... so the things Bessie said just now were false, I mean the part where she said you don’t love Odelia, being selfish and all that?" Colin asked, somewhat bewildered and uncertain in tone.
Tommy nodded as if it were obvious: "Of course they were false, she just wanted to scam me into becoming emotionally upset, fall into introspection and guilt, and ultimately grant her a free vacation." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"I damn near called a serious family meeting to discuss the issues between you siblings, and now you’re telling me it was all fake?" Colin’s mouth hung open as he spoke to Tommy.
Before Tommy could respond, Sophia had finished her phone call and came over: "Tommy, Martin called and said that... although he spent a chunk of your money on hiring drivers and fancy cars, and partying in nightclubs, he has earned it all back from the director Spike Lee, who’s shooting additional scenes in New York. He wants to know if he can keep..."
"Of course, what he earned is his," Tommy affirmed upon hearing Sophia’s words, but then he immediately countered with suspicion:
"Martin is actually making money? If it wasn’t for me hiring him to cuss out Er, Wolfe, and the other Black folks, with his crappy haircutting skills in Los Angeles, he’d be dead on the streets by now. Rick told me that he cut hair for Kevin, the host from Today’s Black News, and after the cut, Kevin with his 200+ pound body actually chased him up five flights of stairs. That alone tells you that his boasts of being a renowned Black hairstylist in Miami were definitely lies. It’s likely he styled some gang member’s hair so terribly that he was issued a hit order, which is why he fled to Los Angeles."
"But this guy, whose only talent is hurling insults for you, is saying he’s made ten thousand in cash, and the well-educated Black young director Spike Lee actually owes him sixty thousand," Sophia asserted to Tommy:
"And he didn’t sound drunk on the phone; after all, if he was drunk, he’d prefer to call Mr. Page rather than me or you."
"Whatever, did you tell him? That he’s going to live like this every day for the next week? Can his body handle it?" Tommy asked.
Sophia hadn’t said anything yet, but Colin, upon hearing Tommy’s words, couldn’t keep his mind on the sibling rivalry; his head was filled with images of the Black man Martin using Hawk Family money to rent luxury cars and live it up in nightclubs.
The words that Tommy had just uttered seemed even more troubling than the arguments between siblings, causing Colin’s blood pressure to surge.
Colin initially intended to wait until Sophia left and then, with no one else around, question Tommy. But the thought of a "black bastard" spending his son’s hard-earned money on fast cars and fast women was too much for him to bear:
"If I wasn’t sure I hadn’t touched another woman since getting married, and you didn’t come from your mother’s belly, I would have thought it was me some black bitch drugged and forced herself on to conceive you, Tommy. You set up TV stations for the blacks, you shoot TV dramas that make the neighbors have strokes, you even help black women find their husbands... Now, you let that black bastard rent a limousine with a personal driver, to gallivant around New York’s finest nightclubs? I drive myself and Bessie to New York! What is this world coming to? Blacks riding on the heads of their white bosses? I’m gonna call Warwick and tell everyone to put on their robes again, the KKK needs to stand up for this country!"
"I think for Tony’s sake, you’d better not bring out the Warwick KKK boys~" Tommy said, seeing his old man go nuts.
Hearing it was for Tony, Colin immediately calmed down. However, he couldn’t figure out what Martin’s binge drinking had to do with Tony, so he asked doubtfully:
"What do you mean ’for Tony’? You’re not gay, but Tony is? And the man he’s cheating on Ashley with is the black bastard Martin? Where’s my castration knife?"
"Do you think Tony’s vacation is him disembarking alone to reunite with us family who travel to New York from afar? In fact, some comrades or superiors he’s on good terms with on that ship also need to disembark for a vacation, like four or five Black guys from inland states. They all hold officer or NCO ranks onboard, and their families, although from humble backgrounds, will also show up in New York tomorrow to surprise Tony’s Black comrades. Do you think they have the money to pay for a vacation so far from home? No, so I’m covering the expenses," Tommy said seriously, looking at Colin.
Colin’s mouth twitched: "So you’re saying, not only do you spend money on the black bastard Martin, you also cover travel expenses for several black buggers’ black relatives so that they can travel all the way to New York to privately meet with Tony’s black soldier pals, which might result in a bunch more little blacks after they go home..."
"Not just travel expenses, but also hotel stays, Yankees and Knicks home game tickets, car rental during their vacation in New York, and such. That’s why you see Sophia constantly on the phone today, arranging all these trivial matters. Besides, someone has to accompany them for nightlife fun. Tony can’t entertain them, so I had to find a Black employee to experience it first, then as my capable assistant, accompany them for fun. I think Martin, working for me, will make Tony’s comrades feel closer than if a formulaic tour guide did it. After all, they work with Tony," Tommy said, his gaze candidly fixed on his father.
Even if Colin wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, by now he’d understood and could only slouch back in defeat: "Did Tony agree to this with you?"
"Tony gave me the list, I’m responsible for sponsoring the vacation for those comrades and superiors on it," Tommy nodded and said.
Colin felt the beer lose its flavor: "All this is for Tony’s promotion and wealth?"
"Slightly different," Tommy drank up his beer and aimed the empty can at the trash:
"To be precise, it should be said it’s for Tony’s promotion, and Tommy’s wealth."
